City Hall
by anna2
Summary: A Letter Home. Just what can you accomplish with a quick trip downtown?


Authors Note: So I've never written for this genre before but the plot bunny would not leave my head until I put it all on paper. So I did. Please tell me what you think. And no flames. I don't have any marshmellows to roast. And if you can't figure out who these characters are, then you don't watch the show enough to be reading the fic.

Disclaimer: None of this belongs to me. Go see Atlantis Alliance, CBS or Jerry Bruckheimer for the rights.

Rating: All Ages

It was a just a quick trip to City Hall. That's what she wrote in the letter.

Pen-and-ink missives were the only form of communication she could count on her father paying attention to and she didn't want him to claim she'd hidden this news from him. Sometime she really wished he'd just pick up the phone or learn how to use email because this technologically impaired business was getting old. So was the 'ignore the fact my daughter moved to New York and don't communicate with her until she comes back' mentality but that was a rant for another time. So she ignored the twinge of guilt and sent the letter. Just a quick trip to City Hall, a five-minute ceremony that was not attended by his family either. No one had been left out on purpose, but they were out of vacation time and didn't really have the funds for the elaborate affair that their mothers would have jointly insisted upon yet refuse to pay for. At least that what she told her mother. In reality, with his brother still in a coma, the last thing he wanted was some big family affair highlighting the fact he didn't really have one. A comatose brother and dysfunctional parents didn't make for great family gatherings. And she knew that it was calving season on the ranch and that her parents couldn't leave. That's what she told him. In reality she wanted to keep these two worlds separate, at least for a little while longer. Once she'd settled into her new way of life, then she'd work on mixing New Home with Old Home.

So it was just a quick trip to City Hall.

She wore an actual dress and heels; he'd worn a real suit and tie not just a sports jacket and slacks. That marked this as a solemn occasion. He'd actually threaten to wear his dress uniform until Stella stepped in. She was of the opinion that dress uniforms were only for funerals and department mandated occasions, not this ceremony at City Hall. Stella was also responsible for the dress. As the only female witness, she'd thrown herself into what little preparations there were with gusto. Gusto that was partially intimidating and secretly welcome. Neither of them was big on ceremony but having someone there that insisted on as much pomp and ceremony as they could handle was kind of nice. Nice and somewhat frightening. Stella had never shown this side of her personality before and it took those around her by surprise.

A quick trip to City Hall.

Six small words that that held so much meaning and change within them. There was history there and deep emotion. Emotion that neither would ever articulate to anyone else but was clearly evident to those that knew them. A connection and a bond that had begun to form her first day on the job, but one that had only solidified in recent months. Between Aiden's death, his brother's attack and the explosion that had nearly killed his best friend, he'd turned to her for support. Support she'd freely given and received in return. He was only one who knew about the nightmares she still had from being caught in the bomb blast, nightmares that were made worse by the grenade she dropped to save a life. And he knew about what had driven her to New York in the first place. A dark spot on her soul that no one here was aware of (if Mac knew, he had never let on). They had seen each other at their worst and come out the stronger for it.

Just a quick trip to City Hall.

In the week after they made their decision and before they that took that cab ride downtown, he'd been cornered by Don, Mac and Hawkes, each one intent on making sure he understood the pain and suffering that would rain down upon him should she be made to cry even once. He'd been complaining ever since that they had no faith in him and that their activities should have been coordinated so that he didn't have to sit still for three separate lectures. He didn't do sitting still very well. She'd gotten the same speech from Stella, that mistreatment of him would have extremely unpleasant results. She took in better stride, mainly because she didn't have to hear it more than once. They'd laughed together about overprotective coworkers and silently acknowledge that these four people were coworkers no longer, that they had crossed that invisible line into friends and were heading towards family.

So just a trip downtown and back to work that afternoon. They really were out of vacation time. She hadn't built up much since starting her job and what little she had had been spent skiing over Christmas. He used his dealing with his brother and helping Don get back on his feet.

Stella had muttered about that in her strange mixture of Italian and Greek (the one she used to make sure no one knew what she was saying as she broadcasted her irritation) but stopped when the afternoon proved to be busy and that every hand was going to be needed. No less than six bodies across the city demanded attention and they didn't see each other again until nightfall, when the day finally ended. A day she didn't really want to end. Despite a busy tour, the lunchtime activities were memories she'd cherish the rest of her life. Even if they were going to bring down a storm of unhappiness when her letter detailing them reached its destination. There was no way she wasn't going send it. Her choices were made and she didn't regret them.

So she carefully wrote the letter.

She didn't tell her parents that her boss gave her away and that her coworker stood up for her instead of her sister. She didn't tell them about the bets that were settled when they'd announced their decision. Apparently they hadn't been nearly as discrete as they thought they were. She didn't tell them about the small bouquet Don had pressed into her hands seconds before the cab ride downtown. She didn't tell them about the surprise party that was held two days later and attended by every member of dayshift, whether they were on the force, in the morgue or in the lab. She didn't tell them about Peyton threatening to kill whomever it was that gave Hammerback alcohol (apparently he had been censoring himself at work and the liquor served to verbalize his internal monologue). Peyton was still claiming she'd never recover from the trauma. Jane Parsons had reportedly told her to stop being a drama queen and the result was some sort of British accented feud being carried out between the morgue and the DNA lab. The CSI's were appropriately amused. She didn't tell them that nightshift officers came by twice, ostensibly due to noise complaints from the neighbors but really to add their congratulations and best wishes (and to sample some of Detective Macca's baklava. Her baklava was adored department-wide. Large sums of money were offered to get her to make it more than twice a year). She didn't mention the cake that Stella had organized or the photographs that Hawkes insisted on. His many talents apparently included near professional grade photography. She included one of the better prints with her letter and hoped that would help placate her parents. She didn't detail the heartfelt toasts and wishes for their happiness. And she didn't tell them that doing it this way was a million times better than adhering to 'tradition'.

She did tell them how right it was to take this quick trip to City Hall and how happy she was. She told them that he was wonderful and promised them they'd try to be home for Christmas so that introductions could be made. She assured them that grandchildren were NOT appearing anytime soon and nothing of that sort had factored into this choice she, no they, had made. She told them about their apartment and about his dog and her cat and how the animals were already inseparable. She told them that she didn't regret this, not for a minute. That this was the best thing she, no they, could be doing with their lives. She told her parents that she loved them and that she knew they'd be angry but she hoped they would come around. She gave them her new address and telephone number. And she signed it with her new name.

Without thinking about it further or agonizing over further over the word selection she sealed the letter, addressed the envelope and dropped it in the mail. The US Postal Service would have to take care of the rest. She had checked and figured she had about three days before the phone rang. It might even be her father on the other end this time.

Amazing what a quick trip to City Hall can accomplish.

Fin.


End file.
